


Predicament

by ScreechTheMighty



Series: We Could Be Immortals [2]
Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Stuttering, Tiny bit of Miraith if you squint and tilt your head, elliot does his best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-10 17:33:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18665107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScreechTheMighty/pseuds/ScreechTheMighty
Summary: Elliot has the stutter under control. Except for when he doesn't, and of course it happens when things are going wrong.





	Predicament

**Author's Note:**

> Of note: the author does not have a stutter, but I hope I represented Elliot's stutter well. Also, I'm love him.

Elliot had worked _really_ hard on losing the stutter. There were a lot of reasons he disliked it, most involving bullying and faint but aggravating memories of adults condescending about how _cute_ he’d sounded at age five with a stutter and a slight lisp. But more than anything, he hated not being heard and understood. Having to repeat himself or constantly amend his speech bothered him more than any idiot badly imitating his stutter because they thought they were _sooo clever._ He wasn’t completely free of it by adulthood—p sounds and long words still tripped him up—but at least he no longer felt like he couldn’t be heard because of it.

He still had his flare-ups though. The trio of flare-up triggers were being drunk, being tired, and being stressed. Any combination of the above was a death sentence for his ability to string together a sentence. That was an ability he _really_ needed during the grinder of a match they were in now. _The Hunt,_ they called it; five straight days, slow ring movement, high risk, high reward. It had seemed like a good idea at first, but now, three days in, Elliot was starting to feel the regret sink in. The only thing that made him feel even _remotely_ good about this nightmare was the fact that Bloodhound (reigning champion three Hunts straight) was out on injury. That upped their chances of surviving by, oh, 5%.

5% was better than nothing, sure. But it wasn’t a lot of improvement. And the fact that he’d only gotten four hours of sleep across the three days he’d been down there probably negated that 5%. He knew he should sleep more, but he was still too skittish. Even with Pathfinder and Wraith there, he didn’t want to risk getting his throat cut while he slept.

Not that he’d admit to that. Nothing scared Mirage. He’d said it on-camera.

They were holed up in one of the abandoned complexes, Pathfinder watching one entrance, Elliot watching the other. Wraith was inside somewhere, poking through the computers. Elliot still didn’t know what she was looking for, but he also knew better than to ask. It left them without a set of eyes, but she’d saved his ass enough times that he was willing to give her some leeway.

_Unless she lied about looking around and is taking a nap somewhere, in which case, we’re gonna have words._

Elliot yawned and gently slapped his own face. “Wakey, wakey,” he mumbled. He could sleep when this was over (and he planned on it, twelve hours minimum). “C’mon.” He looked down the sights of his triple take again, adjusting them to give him a better view of the outside. “No time for sleeps, buh-buddo…”

He was about to get annoyed at himself for the slip when he saw something. There were a cluster of vehicles parked outside. Someone was walking through them. Three someones.

Elliot ducked out of sight immediately and switched on coms. “Guys, we’ve got a sitcho…sit…we’ve got buh-bat…”

_No, no, not now, think about the words, picture the words in your mind, you know how words work!_

“Mirage, are you okay?” Wraith asked.

“ _No,_ no, we g-“ His throat caught on the g-sound. Almost without thinking, he switched tactics. He didn’t have time to reconsider what he was trying to say, so…

“ _Bad guys approaching my position!_ ” he sang.

It wasn’t his best singing, because he was tired, panicked, and trying not to make too much noise. But Wraith didn’t question it, and was there terrifyingly quickly, followed closely by Pathfinder. “You have a hologram ready?” Wraith asked tersely.

Elliot was done with words at the moment, so he gave her a thumbs up instead.

About one minute and one perfect executed ambush later, they were digging through their opponents’ bags and distributing the loot. Pathfinder had gathered up all the heavy ammo and gone back to his perch by the other door; Wraith stayed with Elliot as they divided up the light ammo. “What was that earlier?” she asked suddenly. “The singing.”

He hadn’t expected her to ask. Wraith usually minded her own business, especially when it came to his stutter. “The, uhm…I don’t stutter when I sing,” he said. “I think it’s…a brain thing? The talking part of your brain is different than the singing part, and it’s the talking part that’s bus-busted.” He shrugged. “It’s just…like that.”

Wraith nodded. “But you’re okay? I’ve never heard it get that bad.”

Was that real concern he heard? “Uhm…yeah. I’m fine, really, it’s worse when…I haven’t been sleeping much, y’know? Cause of the…” He fiddled with one of the ammo boxes as he spoke. “The g-the dudes with knives who wanna kill me.”

Wraith snorted quietly. “Those guys? Hadn’t noticed.” That got a small laugh out of Elliot, too. Good old gallows humor. “You should try to get some sleep tonight, okay? We need you sharp.”

That _was_ concern. Weird, Wraith wasn’t usually so emotional. Elliot was kind of touched. “I’m always sharp,” he said. “But I’ll try. Just for you.”

He couldn’t resist a wink. Wraith rolled her eyes in response, but he saw a small smile on the tail end of it. _Score one for Mirage._

He didn’t sleep much longer the next night, but he slept better than he had. And no one gave him shit about his singing or stuttering the next day. Overall, not as bad as it could’ve been.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr at screechthemighty. Also, if you're here because I also write Titanfall fic, I swear I'm working on the next chapter of Proving Grounds. Real life has just been punching me in the face for the past month.


End file.
